education… Inputs and Outputs 20 Oct 2025 I recently returned from NCTM in Atlanta. It was a beautiful week of learning and connection (and late night karaoke -- priorities). "Let's See What You're Saying." On Friday, I…
in the classroom “It Has All the Numbers on the Clock”: Context and Connections 2 Oct 2023 I'm fascinated by how student ideas are shaped by context: what are the big ideas in our current unit? How did we launch the activity? We make connections -- constantly!…
Uncategorized Eight Cupcakes #tmwyk 27 Aug 2023 How can we arrange 8 cupcakes in a pan that has space for 12? In my last post, I wrote about a conversation I had with my 7yo daughter, S,…
#tmwyk 55 Points at the Arcade #tmwyk 16 Jul 2023 How many different ways can you spend your prize tickets? My daughter, S, just finished first grade, where she worked on composing and decomposing both shapes and numbers. (Here are…
in the classroom “It’s as fat as it is tall”: Language and Concept Development with Quick Images 7 Mar 2023 Some days, things just go sideways. It's the reality of teaching. I watched as Grade 1 teacher Rachel led her students into the classroom fifteen minutes later than usual. Rachel…
curriculum… Preserving Equality — Algebraic Thinking Across Grade Levels 13 Feb 202313 Feb 2023 Equality is a fundamental concept of mathematics. The way that we can play around with values -- adjusting numbers slightly -- but maintain equality is fascinating, and differs between operations.…
in the classroom Peas and Carrots… and Beans 9 Feb 20238 Feb 2023 Last year, our first grade team had the opportunity to work with Investigations authors from TERC -- the inimitable Karen Economopolous, with Megan Murray in absentia. To prepare for our…
games… Facilitating Number Boxes, Part 2 – Supporting Reasoning with Representations (Learning With Students) 15 Dec 20223 Feb 2023 "Hmm.. 8 + 3. Let's put the 8 in the ten frame. If we add 3, will it be more than, less than, more equal to 10?" Kyleigh missed parts…
curriculum… “What Are You Hoping For?”: Facilitating the Number Boxes Game to Develop Reasoning – Learning with Teachers 8 Dec 20223 Feb 2023 Number Boxes is one of my favorite games to play. The set up looks similar to an Open Middle problem, with empty boxes that you will place digits into. Open…
Uncategorized How Many Birds: Mathematizing “Two Many Birds” In First Grade, Part 2 28 Apr 202227 Apr 2022 I have been reading Allison Hintz and Antony Smith’s Mathematizing Children’s Literature (Stenhouse, 2022), and it has disrupted how I think about the use of children's literature in math class. In my…
in the classroom The Bossy Owl: Mathematizing “Two Many Birds” in First Grade, Part 1 27 Apr 202227 Apr 2022 In my last blog post, I described three ways in which Allison Hintz and Antony Smith’s Mathematizing Children’s Literature (Stenhouse, 2022) has disrupted how I think about the use of children's literature…
five practices… Stenhouse Blog Post: Using Student Work as an Anchor for Mathematical Discourse (Something to Talk About) 11 Jan 20221 Jan 2022 This blog post was published on the blog for Stenhouse Publishing, as part of a series on classroom discourse. You can read the complete post on the Stenhouse website. While…
in the classroom More Peas, More Carrots: Student Agency in Representations While Problem Solving 16 Dec 2021 Today, the first graders revisited "Peas and Carrots." They had spent several days exploring part-part-whole thinking in the context of games like "how many are hiding?" and "counters in a…
in the classroom The Half-Triangle: Attending to Precision and Building On Others’ Ideas 12 Dec 202111 Dec 2021 From Investigations: Grade 4, Unit 4, Investigation 2, Lesson 2 "This shape fits my rule," said 4th grade teacher Ms. Cohen, moving the green right triangle to the left side…
in the classroom “Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say”: Peas and Carrots Edition 10 Dec 2021 Yesterday was an exciting day in first grade: the launch of peas & carrots! This is the first "how many of each?" problem in first grade. Students wrestle with two…
in the classroom… Digging in the Closet: The Return of the Museum of Rarely Used Math Manipulatives (MoRUMM) 18 Nov 202112 Dec 2021 My officemate and I have an embarrassment of riches -- in the form of math materials. In the first district where I taught, manipulatives were hard to come by. My…
curriculum… Making Space to Listen and Observe 29 Sep 2021 My school recently adopted TERC's Investigations in Number, Time, and Space. The cornerstone of this curriculum is listening to, centering, amplifying, and leveraging student ideas. Many of the embedded assessments…
assessment… Choosing a Story to Tell: Examining a Lesson Close in 1st Grade 28 Aug 20196 Feb 2022 I had planned to spend my first time in Room 12 observing the classroom teacher and getting to know her students. Instead, the teacher texted me the day before to…
assessment… Students Surprise Us: Interviews with Juliet 20 Jun 201919 Jun 2019 Have you ever had a student just gloriously prove all your assumptions wrong? Things move so quickly in a school. In order to grapple with the pace of our days,…
games One of Favorite Games: The Skip Count Game 30 May 20198 Feb 2023 This game is part of my "simple but high leverage" collection of games that are flexible, engaging, and easy to prep. Others include Number Boxes and the Answer Is... I've played the…
Jenna Laib 